Media releases

Special exhibition Reality in flames: modern Australian art and the Second World War opens at Australian War Memorial

The first exhibition dedicated exclusively to exploring the reactions of Australian modernist artists to the Second World War, Reality in flames, opens at the Australian War Memorial from Friday 3 July 2015.

The exhibition showcases 90 works comprising paintings, sketches and sculptures from leading artists such as Russel Drysdale, Nora Heysen and Albert Tucker and was developed through the official war art scheme.

A grant of $100,000 from the Commonwealth Government has seen the Australian War Memorial expand its world-class art collection with the acquisition of a collection of rare portraits from the First World War.

The Minister for the Arts, the Hon. George Brandis QC, today announced the funding from the National Cultural Heritage Account to the Australian War Memorial for the purchase of a collection of nine portraits of First World War soldiers by Hilda Rix Nicholas (1894-1961).

The Australian War Memorial is calling for expressions of interest from qualified historians for the position of Official Historian to the Australian Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Peacekeeping operations in East Timor.

This project is the result of Federal Government Budget funding of $12.8 million to produce these Official Histories. The research, compilation and drafting of the Official Histories are expected to take six years and will be undertaken through the Australian War Memorial.

The Australian War Memorial has unveiled a significant new First World War commemorative tapestry commission based on a painting by internationally renowned Australian artist Imants Tillers (b. 1950).

The tapestry, titled Avenue of Remembrance, was commissioned in 2014 by the Memorial through the Australian Tapestry Workshop and made possible through a generous donation from the Geoff and Helen Handbury Foundation.

Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial, says he’s delighted with the record attendance figures for Anzac Day after more than 31,000 people attended the National Ceremony and veterans’ march at the Memorial today.

The National Ceremony attendance brings crowds at the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing to a massive 151,000 at both ceremonies – an increase of 88,500 on last year’s attendance.